The Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) can be considered a tool to be used for measuring a society's activity. It provides a description of that activity, which can be either empirical or theoretical, depending on whether it is presented in a numerical or an algebraic version, respectively. Special attention will be paid here to the numerical version, and a method will be proposed for its construction from the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). After the first and most fundamental contribution made by Richard Stone, the SNA (with its successive improved versions, from 1953 to 2008) has established a set of rules for measuring a society's activity, which the statistical offices of countries or groups of countries have adopted and adapted to their specific realities, thus defining their own systems. Through an application of the SAM to Portugal, a basic structure, based on the SNA, will be proposed for this matrix, and its consistency within the whole system will be studied. Possible disaggregations, extensions, aggregates, indicators and balances will be calculated and other aspects beyond that basic structure will also be examined. It will be concluded that using the SNA in a SAM-based approach contributes towards a better modelling of (socio-)economic policy, emphasizing the importance of that approach as a valuable support in policy decision processes.

Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) will be presented as tools that have specific features for studying the socio-economic activity of countries. Such features allow for the reading and interpretation of the reality under study, leading to the production of an empirical work that is not only capable of highlighting specific aspects of that activity, but also offers the chance to experiment with different interventions in regard to its functioning. In stating that the knowledge of the socio-economic activity of countries involves the use of national accounts, emphasis is placed on the desirability of working in a matrix format, which simultaneously includes activities (or industries), products, factors of production and institutions. This will be considered to be a way of capturing the relevant network of linkages and the corresponding multiplier effects in the subsequent modelling of the socio-economic activity of the countries studied.A methodological framework based on the works of R. Stone, G. Pyatt and J. Round, will be adopted outlining the main features of the SAM-based approach, according to which the SAM can describe the activity of countries either empirically or theoretically, depending on whether it is presented in a numerical or an algebraic version, respectively.Based on the latest version of the System of National Accounts (2008 SNA), a proposal for a numerical version of a SAM will be presented. Firstly, a basic structure will be presented and the need to ensure its consistency with the whole system will be emphasized. Such emphasis will then be reinforced through the analysis of possible disaggregations and extensions to that basic structure. The different forms of analysis made possible by the use of aggregates, indicators and balancing items that can be calculated from such a version and which lie outside the matrix format will also be discussed. Finally, that proposal will be compared with the matrix format of the national accounts, proposed by the above referred System of National Accounts. Because any socio-economic study made of a specific space, namely, a country, should involve the consideration of its population, Socio-Demographic Matrices (SDMs) will also be briefly presented and two examples of approaches based on SAMs and SDMs will be sketched out.The exposition will be illustrated with an application to Portugal.

In looking for empirical evidence about the activity of countries, a proposal is made for studying (measuring and modelling) the activity of countries through the use of Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) and Socio-Demographic Matrices (SDMs). SAMs and SDMs are presented as tools that have specific features for conducting studies in several different areas, as well as for supporting policy decision processes. Based on methodological principles that are derived mainly from the works of Richard Stone, emphasis is placed on the desirability of working in a matrix format, which includes not only people (SDM), but also, at the same time, activities, products, factors of production and institutions (SAM). This is considered to be a way of capturing the relevant network of linkages and the corresponding multiplier effects for the subsequent modelling of the activity of the countries studied. A method will be proposed for the construction of these matrices. In the case of the SAMs, it is proposed that their design and construction should adopt, at least as their starting point, the latest version of the System of National Accounts (2008 SNA) and the corresponding results of its adoption/adaptation by different countries. The exposition of this proposal is accompanied by an example applied to Mozambique, as well as by some considerations about the quality, suitability and completeness of the data used in the construction of SAMs and SDMs.

This title was first published in 2002: Showing how the social accounting matrix provides a comprehensive framework for the analysis and tabulation of national statistics and how it can assist in developing economic policy, this work also demonstrates the key aspects of this approach in dealing with a wide range of economic and social issues. The reference, and the accompanying volume, "Social Accounting and Economic Modelling for Developing Countries" should be useful for researchers, instructors, policy makers and scholars.

This title was first published in 2002. Providing the first comprehensive systematic assessment of the social accounting matrix (SAM) in twenty developing countries, Solomon Cohen introduces key research in the area and looks at its practical applications. Divided into two parts, the first part of each chapter: -Deals with the construction and structural analysis of the SAM -Examines refinements of the SAM as a self-contained model of the economy; study of SAM multipliers of growth and distribution -Explores decompositions of multiplier effects and cross-country and inter-temporal comparative analysis of changing economic structures. The second part looks at the SAM as a modular framework and a database, which can be flexibly used in economic policy modelling. This valuable reference, and the accompanying volume Social Accounting or Industrial and Transition Economies will be an essential addition to the bookshelves of researchers, instructors, policy makers, scholars and libraries.

In looking for empirical evidence about the activity of countries, a proposal is made for studying (measuring and modelling) the activity of countries through the use of Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) and Socio-Demographic Matrices (SDMs). SAMs and SDMs are presented as tools that have specific features for conducting studies in several different areas, as well as for supporting policy decision processes. Based on methodological principles that are derived mainly from the works of Richard Stone, emphasis is placed on the desirability of working in a matrix format, which includes not only people (SDM), but also, at the same time, activities, products, factors of production and institutions (SAM). This is considered to be a way of capturing the relevant network of linkages and the corresponding multiplier effects, which can be used for the subsequent modelling of the activity of the countries studied. A method will be proposed for the construction of these matrices. In the case of the SAMs, it is proposed that their design and construction should adopt, at least as their starting point, the latest version of the System of National Accounts (2008 SNA) and the corresponding results of its adoption/adaptation by different countries. The exposition of this proposal is accompanied by an example applied to Portugal.

Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) will be presented as tools that have specific features for studying the socio-economic activity of countries. Such features allow for the reading and interpretation of the reality under study, leading to the production of an empirical work that is not only capable of highlighting specific aspects of that activity, but also offers the chance to experiment with different interventions in regard to its functioning. In stating that the knowledge of the socio-economic activity of countries involves the use of national accounts, emphasis is placed on the desirability of working in a matrix format, which simultaneously includes activities (or industries), products, factors of production and institutions. This will be considered to be a way of capturing the relevant network of linkages and the corresponding multiplier effects in the subsequent modelling of the socio-economic activity of the countries studied.A methodological framework based on the works of R. Stone, G. Pyatt and J. Round, will be adopted outlining the main features of the SAM-based approach, according to which the SAM can describe the activity of countries either empirically or theoretically, depending on whether it is presented in a numerical or an algebraic version, respectively.Based on the latest version of the System of National Accounts (2008 SNA), a proposal for a numerical version of a SAM will be presented. Firstly, a basic structure will be presented and the need to ensure its consistency with the whole system will be emphasized. Such emphasis will then be reinforced through the analysis of possible disaggregations and extensions to that basic structure. The different forms of analysis made possible by the use of aggregates, indicators and balancing items that can be calculated from such a version and which lie outside the matrix format will also be discussed. Because any socio-economic study made of a specific space, namely, a country, should involve the consideration of its population, Socio-Demographic Matrices (SDMs) will also be briefly presented and two examples of approaches based on SAMs and SDMs will be sketched out.The exposition will be illustrated with an application to Portugal.